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electrogen
Average Member
United Kingdom
206 posts
Joined: Feb, 2012
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 Posted - 2013/08/28 : 14:29:50
What is the purpose of mixing down really? The way i see it it when you build a track you bus elements together anyway and process accordingly.
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DJ_FunDaBounce
Advanced Member
Colombia
1,913 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001
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Posted - 2013/08/28 : 14:51:49
Back when everything was analog and played live, tracking (getting the takes on tape) was essential to the recording process. Mixing down would then ensure everything was propperly balanced prior to Mastering. I assume your question stems from working in a DAW which has the instant recall of all parameters, unlike the old days where every piece of hardware in the studio had to be set manually. Meaning you would only get a couple days shot at getting the mixdown right. I still recommend reading up a bit on general mixing rules as a lot of it still applies.
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electrogen
Average Member
United Kingdom
206 posts
Joined: Feb, 2012
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Posted - 2013/08/28 : 15:00:51
Apparently mixing down is more important than making the music.
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AceofSpades_Lorenzo
Average Member
United States
241 posts
Joined: Aug, 2013
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Posted - 2013/08/28 : 15:30:00
How i see things; Idk if this is correct, or am i even "answering your question"
but like, it's all about having everything sound "clean" & not amateur-ish.
If you looks at the tracks by Gammer, Darren Styles, Fracus, Darwin etc; It's one of the main reasons they sound amazing besides the musical aspects.
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electrogen
Average Member
United Kingdom
206 posts
Joined: Feb, 2012
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Posted - 2013/08/28 : 15:43:37
All the tuts online arnt really clear about it. Like u start with kick and bass and once there settled everything else is smooth. But is that the full bassline and kick or just below 100-250hz. Other tuts always seem to be in code too lol everyone bangs on about how they hate mix downing and i never understood why. But i do now and its not because it takes an age.
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DJ_FunDaBounce
Advanced Member
Colombia
1,913 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001
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Posted - 2013/08/28 : 19:06:16
quote:
Originally posted by electrogen:
Apparently mixing down is more important than making the music.
Having a firm grasp on both (engineering and writing music) is what I see as being the strength with the major players.
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"Fun with a capital F-D-B!"
https://soundcloud.com/fundabouncedj
https://brightspeedrecordings.bandcamp.com
Every Saturday night from 10-12 (Bogota/Colombia time)
https://www.twitch.tv/fundabouncedj
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Edited by - DJ_FunDaBounce on 2013/08/28 19:07:57 |
electrogen
Average Member
United Kingdom
206 posts
Joined: Feb, 2012
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Posted - 2013/08/28 : 20:19:40
Oh yeah theres no denying that. Anyone can make music we all use our mouths for something. Lol the tru talent i was once told is the patience. But it takes years of making music and getting better. Then knowing what goes with what and to come up with some of the stuff they do is unreal. I spend hours crafting basslines and know that to use 2 saw waves in same key oct and freq takes mire than luck.
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Jonny Rich
New Member
United Kingdom
76 posts
Joined: Dec, 2011
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Posted - 2013/08/31 : 13:33:14
only help i could give u is using the parameter eq and getting rid of unwanted / unneeded frequencies to make your track sound clean and crisp
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Hard2Get
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
12,837 posts
Joined: Jun, 2001
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Posted - 2013/08/31 : 14:14:21
Mixing down means to take the live mix from the console to the 2-track master tape. These days of course the term is only used loosely, and is used to define the process of mixing the track and then exporting it.
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Edited by - Hard2Get on 2013/08/31 14:16:44 |
electrogen
Average Member
United Kingdom
206 posts
Joined: Feb, 2012
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Posted - 2013/08/31 : 15:38:24
Yeah thats what i thought someone on another forum said there r a lot of producers who swear by mastering and mixdowns to improve things but said this isnt the case as if your mix is crap to start with then jt crap at the end of it. You cant polish abturd as they say lol.
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masterbucks
New Member
United Kingdom
42 posts
Joined: Feb, 2013
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Posted - 2013/08/31 : 20:11:24
Mixing down even with a set preset in a masterting suite plugin has greatly improved the overall 'loudness' and presence of my tracks.
If you can get hold of it, Izotope 5 (plenty of usable presets to boost the overall sound)
Obviously this is all post prod stuff, all the gubbings beforehand is equally as important, like you say - 'you can't polish a turd'. getting levels and EQ all nicely sitting together has been a major learning curve for me. I'm no master of it, still trying to work it all out myself. Fabfilter Q plugin is great for EQ, you can have it display the Pre and Post frequency output, real handy, I put it on most tracks in the D.A.W.
I low pass cut off almost EVERYTHING to a certain degree! even bass and kicks (although i'll cut them off about 30-50Hz, whatever suits)
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carldj90
Senior Member
United States
299 posts
Joined: May, 2010
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Posted - 2013/09/03 : 06:24:43
I always seen mixing down as keeping everything below the kick, but still loud enough to hear everything. Mainly just keeping the master under 0 db while having everything loud and not going above the kick!
I could be wrong! :P
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Audio Warfare
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,046 posts
Joined: Mar, 2009
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Posted - 2013/09/03 : 08:17:06
Mixing down is just the final processing of balancing sounds, making sure everything has it's own space, things aren't clipping etc. Absolutely essential. Of course most people do it as they go along these days but there is always room for improvement when you go back with fresh ears.
quote:
Originally posted by masterbucks:
Mixing down even with a set preset in a masterting suite plugin has greatly improved the overall 'loudness' and presence of my tracks.
If you can get hold of it, Izotope 5 (plenty of usable presets to boost the overall sound)
Mixing down should take place before any mastering really. The idea is to get it as loud and clear as you can without using mastering techniques on the master channel.
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masterbucks
New Member
United Kingdom
42 posts
Joined: Feb, 2013
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Posted - 2013/09/03 : 09:38:18
quote:
Originally posted by Audio Warfare:
Mixing down is just the final processing of balancing sounds, making sure everything has it's own space, things aren't clipping etc. Absolutely essential. Of course most people do it as they go along these days but there is always room for improvement when you go back with fresh ears.
quote:
Originally posted by masterbucks:
Mixing down even with a set preset in a masterting suite plugin has greatly improved the overall 'loudness' and presence of my tracks.
If you can get hold of it, Izotope 5 (plenty of usable presets to boost the overall sound)
Mixing down should take place before any mastering really. The idea is to get it as loud and clear as you can without using mastering techniques on the master channel.
Yea, I totally agree, apologies for a misleading post. Generally, I sort all levels etc first inside the daw project, then export and master the .wav seperately.
However, I have use of a plugin called Maserati GRP which is great for chucking at the end of the master output bus of a project which can give amazing boosts and compression to the whole track for a preview of how it could sound mastered before actually sorting it properly. I've also seen it used as a final mastering tool too, it definitely gets a track nicely upto 0dB with everything else all compressed for oomph!
In my soundcloud account there is a track called 'you are all going to die tonight' .. that was Mastered purely by the Maserati GRP plugin and all inside the daw project folder rather than exporting first THEN mastering. The track was exported with the Maserati Plugin inserted on the master output.
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Tracks & Mixes ..
https://soundcloud.com/masterbucks
https://www.youtube.com/user/masterbucks
http://www.mixcloud.com/MasterBucks/
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Mixing down.
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